Baritone
The baritone has a long history. It all started
in the early 18th century with
an instrument called the serpent. This
snake-like tube was made of either wood,
brass or silver, and its tuning
wasn't good. It had six finger holes (valves
wern't ivented yet) in the
beginning, but later more were added. It was used in
military bands as a
marching bass, but it could also be found supporting the
bass part in church
choirs. Players of the serpent needed to be extraordinary
musicians, because
when put in less talented hands it sounded horrible. The
serpent had an
undistinguished life, although some people still play it today,
and was
replaced in 1821 by a brass instrument, produced by a French company
called
Halary, that was "a combination of the modern bassoon and baritone
saxophone"
called the ophicleide. The ophicleide used keys (instead of the
finger holes
of the serpent). It became popular and was made in several sizes
and keys,
but by the end of the century, it had almost disappeared. Around 1815,
valves
were invented by Heinrick Stolzel and Friedrick Blushmel. Valves
improved
intonation and pitch, and made almost all modern brass instruments
possible. At
that time, the technology was new, and it was not until 1823
that a horn similar
to the euphonium was used. The 1860s and 1870s were a
major time of improvement
for the euphonium, beginning when Professor Phasey
of Kneller Hall, England,
enlarged the bore of the instrument. Soon after
that, over the shoulder
euphoniums began to appear, and in 1874, the
compensating valve system, invented
by David Blaikley, made pitch better. The
1880s brought even more variety to the
baritone/euphonium scene with the
addition of the large bore Kaiserbariton, and
the famous double-belled
euphonium of Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man. Not
much happened in the
development of the modern euphonium between 1888 and 1921,
because people had
decided that there was enough variety and there was no longer
a need for new
instruments. Baritones were taken out of wind bands and
essentially limited
to brass bands. Euphoniums however, became standard
equipment for any
military, marching, or concert
band.